Good morning! Happy Saturday. I have coffee brewing and outside, it looks a little gloomy out and that for once, is actually ok… I have some indoor things that need to be done and have been neglected as the weather has been pretty awesome this week and I have been biking! 😀
Yes the 2012 maiden bike voyage happened on Tuesday of this week and it was a glorious 14 miles! On my way back to my car I seen something BIG in a tree:
Mmm hmmmmm… WHAT is that?
At this point, I determine it is a beaver. There is some wetland near the bike trail in parts and I was near that now. In fact as a couple of rollerbladers passed by while I was taking pictures I pointed out the beaver in the tree. They were not as impressed as I was, they smiled politely and kept on blading.
It was kind of cool, his little paw would reach out for some of the leaves and I watched him for about ten minutes. He started to climb down and I thought I would video that but he sensed my presence and FROZE and finally I waved him good-bye and good luck getting out of the tree, and moved on.
Coming home Wednesday evening I had this vision close to my house.
That’s common, but I still like to look at them. That night our dog Bailey was going nuts around 3 in the morning. He was on the bed with us and staring out our big bay window we have in the bedroom. Of course it was pitch black aside and I had no idea what he was seeing so I got up and went and stood by the deck doors that look over out back yard. I could see two large darker shapes so I stepped out on to the deck and it was two deer. I wondered if they were the same deer…
Now back to the other thing in the tree. On Friday my awesome friend Amy (awesome as she agrees to do CRAZY things with me!) and I decide to go on a bike ride to the town of Nisswa, a 36 mile loop. It’s a straight stretch on the trail and she will be doing some rides with me later this year so this is good training. About a mile in, I see out friend in a tree again. We stop, try to decide what it is, and eventually I start calling it a Bechuck (beaver woodchuck combo) and eventually that lead to Bebird (beaver bird combo).
When I got home last night I Googled if beavers could climb trees. You probably already know this, the answer is no. (I flash back to Tuesday when I told those rollerblading girls it was a beaver in the tree… no wonder they kept on blading… they probably thought I had something stronger in my water bottle than water. 😳
The verdict is….
a groundhog.
So there you are boys and girls. Out wildlife lesson for today. 😀 For more fun pictures around the world be sure to pop over and see Alyce with her awesome Saturday Snapshots meme. I love to see what people ate taking pictures of!
My day is going to consist of some household duties,blog visiting, a couple calls to friends, audio books, and some reading. I have a few books going that I need to finish, one being the 19th Wife that is our book club read and we are discussing this coming Tuesday.
Thankfully our weekend here is pretty quiet. College son has to work so will not be coming home for Easter. That is a huge bummer… but we understand. I don’t mind quiet holidays, my life seems to go extreme so often that time to just hang is always welcome. 😀
How about you? Any awesome plans for the weekend? Fun traditions?
Oh! One more thing – This weeks Monday What Are You Reading is going to have a special bonus to it. I thought we would have a little fun since we are celebrating Easter! Really, you are going to want to participate so be sure to plan on connecting what you are reading this week if you are a regular to the meme, and if you are new to it, stop on by Sunday evening and check out what I am talking about. 😀
Book Journey 
Wow. I think I thought groundhogs were only in the ground as well – such as Mr. Phil from PA that “decides” on winter. But, I guess if he didn’t have that flat tail, couldn’t have been a beaver. It was definitely something brown and furry. We have a lot of deer here with us too.
On Tuesday when I first seen him, I though he did have a flat tail… now I laugh that I thought it was a beaver. 😛
Don’t laugh….I thought it looked like a beaver also! Thanks for clearing up that little mystery!! My legs felt a bit like jell-o after our ride last night….but good to burn some calories!
Oh good! I thought it was just me who was a little wobbly after all that riding 😀
I didn’t think beavers climbed trees either…or groundhogs!
I know right? Look what we have learned today? Both you and I Colleen are now ready for Jeopardy! 😀
Didn’t know groundhogs climbed trees!
We’re having family over for Easter dinner. This year we’re grilling steaks instead of a traditional ham, etc. We rarely eat red meat so I’m looking forward to it 🙂
Grilling sounds like a great idea Mary! Maybe we will do that too… it is suppose to be sunny again tomorrow. *fingers crossed*
A groundhog, ah.
All the time while reading I kept thinking….”can beavers climb????”, so I was quite happy to learn that it was a ground hog. It does look a little risky, it looks far to big for those slim branches.
I was really hoping he would not crash, I do not know CPR for groundhogs! LOL
Great shots!! I love seeing all kinds of critters on bike trails. The last I saw was a bunch of wild turkeys crossing the trail.
I love this time of year on the trail Vicki, its not overly populated yet so the critters are still pretty plentiful and I always have a camera on me. Wild turkeys would make an awesome pic!
Well, golly! Who’d have thunk it! I didn’t know groundhogs would climb trees, but the million dollar question now is … what was chasing him that he/she dashed up the tree? What a lucky photo op, huh?
Exactly! I wonder if it is just the traffic on the trail? We had a pretty nice week so bikers, and walkers, and bladers are all over the trail and his home is probably pretty close to the trail.
Wonderful pictures. I love looking at nature in all its glory. The creatures made my day! Thanks!!!
Here is my Saturday Snapshot post!
I just had fun naming him…. there is a local band called Hairball. I though he may be an escaped member… 😀
There are so many deer in Auburn, everyone there says the first thousand you see are cute, after that, they’re annoying.
You are not a true Minnesotan until you have hit a deer. I think I am a rarity, I have only hit one, and it was more of a nick… myself, car, and deer will all ok. Hubby on the other hand… I would say close to ten through the years. He drives a lot more than I do. 🙂
That is the strangest thing I have ever seen. Here’s Mine
LOL… biking can be an adventure!
Awesome. I have never seen one in a tree, down in ditches maybe. Have a Happy Easter!
You have a Happy Easter too Nise!
I had no idea groundhogs could climb trees. You live in a very interesting area!
I think so too 😀
Wow, you do have some interesting critters where you live.
The deer are somewhat familiar, as my daughter and family lived above me in the foothills (when I still lived there), and we regularly saw deer.
We also had coyotes, foxes, and bobcats. Not so much fun. I’m sure there were snakes, too.
Now we all live in the city. Boring but less troubling. We can still drive to the interesting places!
Thanks for sharing your groundhog story…and now I can’t wait to see what the Monday bonus will be! And thanks for visiting my little “cafe” today.
Oh, I just now realized you tweaked your header…and is that Blue in the right hand corner? For some reason, I can’t see him on my computer, no matter how I change the view! (sigh).
Oh, now I can…but the text print is too tiny for the rest of my viewing! lol
Hi Laurel! 😀 We do have the foxes and bobcats (occasionally). I dont think I have ever seen a coyote.
Yes – stay tuned for the MWAYR this week…. I am excited too 😀
You have enormously entertaining wildlife! And whatever it turned out to be, those first couple of pictures are amazing–the tree doesn’t look nearly strong enough to support it. If I had been rollerblading by, I would have been much more impressed!
I dont think the tree looks supportive either! What if there was a tragic accident??? 😛
I know beavers don’t climb trees but then again I’ve never seen a ground hog up in one either. Those ground hogs can be very destructive. I had a family of them build a nest on my property and had to pay a trapper to remove them. So, better they stay in trees and not follow you home!
We had one in the wood pile a couple of years ago Leslie. My husband referred to it as a woodchuck, I did not realize until today on wikepedia that they are the same thing. It killed a rabbit in our yard and it was awful. I didnt see it, but I seen the remains of the rabbit.
My hubby said they are about as big as our dogs (shih-tsus) and mean. After that, I avoided walking near the wood pile. 😯
Wise idea to stay far away from them. The trapper told me their “home” was probably a series of tunnels under my and my neighbor’s yards. He trapped 4 of them but we know there were at least 6! They leveled my garden. They ate all the veggies and flowers and fences don’t stop them. The alpha male of the ‘family’ is mean. When they trapped him he was hissing and chewing the bars. The trapper relocated them to a more appropriate area further west. I didn’t want them harmed, but they couldn’t stay here!
I get that Leslie, I would not be able to harm them either… I even bought the mousetraps a few years back that catch and release. When I was at the store getting them the guy next to me laughed. He said what do you plan on doing with those?
I told him I would release the mice into a neighboring field and he said “And dont you think they will come back in?”
Thankfully now our neighbor lady feeds all these stray cats and we have not had any mice the last two years!
That is too funny about the “beaver.” I was actually excited reading your post because I’ve never seen a beaver in a tree. So you totally had me fooled. 🙂 The house where I grew up had two creeks (pronounced ‘cricks’ by my family) nearby and the beavers there loved to dam them up (and chop down our lovely apple trees).
I had me fooled too 😀 Oh I would love to see beavers in action, but not taking out the trees you love!
Hey, we learn something new every day… supposedly! 🙂
If there’s anything up a tree around here they isn’t usually one of 3 things – a bird, a squirrel or a cat!
LOL – I think that is the norm around here too 😀
Those deer are lovely! But, yeah . . . ground hogs in trees. Who knew? I wonder how long it took him to get down.
I know… when I seen him moving downward on Tuesday it looked to be a SLOW process.
What a fun post. I didn’t think that beavers climbed trees- but as an Australian what would I know? Glad to learn about woodchucks though- I’ve never seen one of those. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a beaver either. The deer pictures are always lovely.
LOL Thanks Louise, it was a learning moment for me as well 🙂
I was thinking that looked like a raccoon or woodchuck — never saw one in a tree though. Love the deer.
It was a first … and a second for me too Diane! 😀
Glad I kept reading…I didn’t think beavers could climb trees!! But then again, I had no idea that groundhogs could climb trees, either! We have lots of them around us, but I’ve only seen them on the ground (hence, the name…)
Thanks for the wildlife lesson!
Sue
I am with you Sue – this is all new stuff to me 😀
That’s a big woodchuck!
Yes! Watch yourself on the bike trail. If he flies…. I may never use the trail again. LOL 😛